Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-12-23
CHARMING HOMES.
me faft Taken by Loving Hand. I'm .r.I.
ing the Home BeauttfuI

" Loving Hands In Mai.
ing the Home Beautiful.
women the world over have. durino
ING past lew years, become profoundI,
interested In the art Of making the home
beautiful, and their efforts In that time
o'io" them to be Possessed Of no roe,,,
talent for decoration. A few wears ayo
1hot 80 very many all this sort 81
'hihg was left to the professional dec
orator and fnrnisher; those who were
not able TO pay for these luxuries ware
content, as rule, 70 forego any thine
that smacked of @stheticlsm or bioL
arr IN their surroundings. OF course.
tnere were exceptions. but they were
so rare as TO be notable, and were #
SAFE TO say, inspired by latent genius
OF an extraordinary kind. But the
women OF the world have been grow.
ing very rapidly Of late years in artistic
knowledge. The facilities for getting
about have increased. The shons have
become magazines Of art. There are
glorious opportunities for self-cuIture
that our grandmothers dreamed not Of
ana women have been quick to avail
themselves Of this privilege. Owing
perhaps, TO the Yankee element
III their composition, American
women are particularly shrewd
iinitators,I and, even where they lack
the power Of originality, appear 70
make up such lack by their genius for
adapting to their own uses the designs
OF others. 1t is this happy quality thai
mas transformed the homes Of the neo-
pie from their former state of uoliness
INTO pleasing, even where it is not a
genuinely artistic condition.
Especially in the way Of colorine has
the taste Of the people been improved.
Inc middle-aged among us can re-
member how religiously the color line
USED 10 be drawn. The blues and
greens were rigidly separated; so were
the reds and pinks. 1t was a daring
experiment to combine blue and pink,
ana Tor many years only the more au.
daclous of woman kind accepted it.
Ana there was sterling honesty about
colors in those days, the remembrance
OF which makes one shudder even now.
Inc distinct and dreadful blues and
greens, the uncompromising reds,
Magenta and solferino strike terror to
the soul, even at this distance of time.
Happily, We have outgrown these
things and have no more of them.
Greens and blues have become united
and harmonious until they half puzzle
you as to which predominates.
Reds are toned down, although
they are not at all less bright, and
the pinks carry with them fascinat-
ing hint of yellow. OF course, the
colors did not change without a rea-
son. The fact is that taste had grown
until such change was demanded. 1t
did not come in advance. and had no
part in working the revolution. The
people had simply grown until they
could no longer tolerate such atrocities
of coloring. They had learned some
thing of the laws Of harmony and con-
trast, and began to have minds oftheir
own. And lol how great change has
been wrought. The humblest cottage
now disports itself in artistic array:
estheticism marks the costume of the
simplest village maiden.
To keep pace with these changes in
popular sentiment the wit of manu-
facturers and dyers is often severely
taxed. Women have come to know
what they want and insist upon having
it. They think more. too, of the effect
Of the jIxtaposition of various articles
than ever before. The wise housewife
with a few hundred dollars to spend in
the furnishing of the modest little nest
doubtless bastows more thought upon
fitness and harm ony than was given to
The furnishing OF the costliest mansion
few years ago. This is as it should
be, for with a very limited outlay the
unpretentious dom:cile may be trans
formed into veritable Mecca TO all
lovers of the beautiful Philadelphia
Record